Welcome to our community. Please fill in the following template as a way of introducing yourself, and helping others to understand your background and situation.
Where are you from (country)?
France
How did you find this forum (Google search – if so, what search terms? Via link from a forum or website – if so, what page? Other?)
What is your current age, height, weight?
I am 31 years old. I am French.
I am 181 centimeters tall. I weigh 78 kilos.
What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)?
Finasteride
What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
1,25 mg de Proscar (Finasterid) for 28 days.
What condition was being treated with the drug?
Hair loss.
For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)?
28 days.
Date when you started the drug?
October 20, 2021
Date when you quit the drug?
November 19, 2021
Age when you quit?
31
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
31
How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects?
What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
Listed below.
Check the boxes that apply. You can save your post first, then interactively check/uncheck the boxes by clicking on them. If your symptoms change, please update your list.
Sexual
[x] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[x] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[x] Loss of Morning Erections
[x] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[x] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[x] Watery Ejaculate
[x] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[x] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[x] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[ ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[ ] Suicidal Thoughts
Physical
[x] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[x] Prostate pain
[ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[x] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature
[ ] Other (please explain)
What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
If you have pre or post-drug blood tests, what hormonal changes have you encountered since discontinuing the drug (please post your test results in the “Blood Tests” section and link to them in your post)?
Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience?
Tell us your story, in your own words, about your usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
Hello everyone,
**Introduction
I am 31 years old. I am French.
I am 181 centimeters tall. I weigh 78 kilos.
I took Proscar 5mg for 28 days, 1.25mg per day; from October 21, 2021 to November 19, 2021. I was cutting the tablet in 4.
Heart palpitations made me stop taking the medication. I used to have them, but they had become very strong. I also noticed that my semen was watery.
I think I had a crash 10 days later, in early December. This crash included, an absence of libido, no erection, neither morning nor night (I am more sure of this information) and even less spontaneous. These were the only things I noticed at first. I noticed that I had cognitive and memory problems (probably due to my excessive alcohol intake and my lifestyle) and very slight visual problems.
My symptoms:
- erectile dysfunction: milder than at the beginning, varies according to the period.
-loss/decrease of libido: fluctuates, but always much lower than it was. - lack of morning erection: rarer than at the beginning. Most of the time I have them, although they can be weak.
- no nocturnal erection: this problem is almost solved.
- blurred vision: problem solved.
- poor memory: still somewhat present but no longer a problem.
- prostate pain: comes and goes.
- testicular pain: rare.
- penis deformity: looks different. It feels different, like it’s rubbery. In the same day, it can seem normal and then become rubbery again. I feel it without looking. It seems less dense. Its base is less dense and large than before taking the treatment.
- apathy, emotional blunting: the worst of the symptoms. The impression of feeling everything at a very low intensity.
My story:
December and January:
I think I had my first “crash” in December.
I didn’t take much interest in it. I thought it was going to be temporary.
I was feeling good about my life. I was very interested in literature. I felt less angry at the world, at myself. At that time, I only noticed the side effects related to sex (libido, ED…). I felt like I was feeling the same way except for women, sex. I won’t say how important they were. Nevertheless, I think I can say that between December and the end of January, my erectile functions were more degraded than today, 6, 7 months later. Rather, my crashes are less powerful.
It was a period when I had little interest in women, by choice at first. Before taking Proscar, I wanted to find myself, to do some work on myself by excluding women from my life. Taking the medication did the job.
January / February:
At the end of January, beginning of February, I started to worry, noticing that the situation was not evolving positively. I decided to look for information on the internet. And there, the drama, I fall on this site with horrors. I started to panic and to probe myself. I could get an erection. I had nocturnal and sometimes morning erections. The erections were more or less strong depending on my condition, which fluctuated and still does.
At that time, I decided to resume sports. I was injured, that’s why I was not training anymore. I had to go gradually. I also decided to be a little more careful with my diet by avoiding refined sugar for example.
Since February and March, I have been focusing on my sexual desire. At that time, I was able to get an erection very quickly, almost whenever I wanted to, but the sensations and the desire were not the same as before taking the medication. Other times, it was the famous “crash” and I spent a week without feeling much, having very sluggish induced erections. During these weeks of crash, I feel progressively (it’s very very slight) things going a little better. Better sensations, easier erections, even if they are sluggish and relatively mole when they are not provoked.
These two months were the beginning of a new interest in women. I forced myself to look at them, looking for a reaction from my body through eye contact. It was also a period of ups and downs during which my sensations, even if I was erect, were bland if compared to my state before taking the medication.
It seems to me that on three occasions, I had the sensation of becoming like before. This never lasted more than a day. Always after these very good sensations, I experienced crashes or mini-crashes.
March/April:
This was a period where my was fluctuating. I felt like the crashes were less strong as well as the highs. I think I only got really excited once. The excitement was not comparable to the ones before taking Finasteride. I had the feeling that, little by little, I was getting better. Maybe it was due to the month of Ramdhan when I was fasting, I don’t know. At one point, after feeling better, I had a big crash. It was at the end of March, beginning of April 2022 if I remember correctly. It lasted a good week. During that whole week. I did not masturbate. At the end of it, I didn’t have a strong urge to do so, but still. It was as if I felt the need to “empty” myself. I should mention that I regularly had the urge to masturbate before the medication, which I did.
This period is also when I started to realize that I was becoming apathetic. I feel things with less intensity than before. I am a hypersensitive person. It’s important to note that I started being less when I knew it was an adverse reaction. Is it psychological? Is it depression? Maybe. Maybe it’s both a form of depression and taking the medication. When I say I don’t feel the way I used to, it’s about everything. It is the case when I practice sports, the pains, the sensations are not the same. When I am hungry or thirsty, it is easy to hold, I feel them less etc…
May/June:
I think for two weeks I felt between 30 and 65% (65% was rare) of my sexual abilities. I had a moment, very recently, at the end of May when I was really excited. I wanted to have sex with a woman. Funnily enough, this period started at a time when I felt like I was going through a period of not so good. I would say it lasted 5 days, starting timidly, reaching its peak on the 4th, and declining on the 5th day, before experiencing another dull period. During this good period, my feelings were really good. Not like before, but still decent and encouraging. I often got an erection, sometimes in spite of myself. Having an erection, desiring a woman, was much easier and more fluid than at the beginning of my recovery, even though I was very comfortable with erections at first, only the sensations were not the same, they were better than before. I don’t know if it’s because I’m getting used to having less intense sensations or if they are more intense than a few months ago.
This month of April was also the month where I made huge progress on night erections. They are very often present and strong. The morning ones are also very often present, less than the nocturnal ones, and quite good. This can be explained by the fact that I take mint tea every night.
For more than a week, the first week of June, I have been going through a dull period. In fact, I feel like I haven’t really made any progress since February. I understood today that I am in depression, and that long before taking Finasteride.
Finally, this period is also the moment when I feel that I am progressing and regressing in the same day, whereas before, I had the feeling that this dynamic was part of a longer cycle, as mentioned above.
Additional information:
- I used to drink a lot before and while taking Finasteride. I stopped at the end of December 2021.
- I smoke chicha daily.
- I work out at the gym 4 times a week seriously.
- My diet is still not good but I am making efforts.
- I take vitamin D3 daily because I have a deficiency.
My blood tests dated February 2022:
- DHT: 0.58 ng/ml
- Total testo: 5.360 ng/ml
- Bioavailable testo: 8.8 nmol/l
- Free testo: 87.7 pmol/l
- LH: 5 mIU/mL
- SHBG: 26.50 nmol/L
- Plasma estradiol: 23 pg/ml
- Vitamin D: 8ng/ml
Remarks:
- I continually have numbness in my penis. It comes and goes during the day. I feel like it started when I started to care about my situation. I also think they come on when I’m not feeling well. I feel that they are partly psychological unlike the penile deformity which is 100% real.
- When I started to have hope for a cure, I got much better.
- My situation is delicate. I have been living in the same room with a friend for a year. Our neighbor is noisy and the apartment is poorly insulated. I am not fulfilled in my work. I am worried about my future. I don’t see any positive prospects. I am afraid I will no longer know love. I lost the love of my life several years ago and have never recovered. I found out two weeks ago that she got married.
- I used to drink large amounts of alcohol on occasion before my crash. I recall that I haven’t had a drink since December or January.
I think I have my situation covered.
I think I will update my situation every month or two.
Thank you for reading my testimony.
